Help what bike at €1200

work

I have done alot of research to get a road bike for around €1200 for a female.
Would anyone venture an opinion on the following:

Canyon 7.0W at €1199
Focus Cayo 105 Ltd 2011 at €1170
Cube Agree SL Bike 2010 at €1400

The Cayo is carbon with 105 components.
The other two are aluminium with Carbon forks and Ultegra components.
The bike is to be used for weekend cycles and triathlon racing.

Lemag

Within your apparent budget I don't think that you'll get better value than this Planet X SL Pro Carbon with SRAM Rival.

I have a friend with the Focus Cayo and, tbh, I'd rather chance my arm at the Canyon (I have two of them though they are not the Roadlite model to which I presume you are referring). I've never tried out a cube but have read good things about them.

work

Lemag wrote: »

Within your apparent budget I don't think that you'll get better value than this Planet X SL Pro Carbon with SRAM Rival.

I have a friend with the Focus Cayo and, tbh, I'd rather chance my arm at the Canyon (I have two of them though they are not the Roadlite model to which I presume you are referring). I've never tried out a cube but have read good things about them.

Thanks Lemag. Another option I am trying to wittle it down not up but I know this is the problem! The planet X has SRAM which I know nothing about. Why do you suggest the Planet X above the others (it has SRAM rival whis i think is their equivalent to 105 shimano). Does the canyon come pre set up when delivered?
Hope you do not mind all the questions
Thanks, Work

blorg

I would certainly get carbon at that price. The PX is a great bike and best value. SRAM Rival is a good quality group. The only thing to be wary of as a (possibly short?) female is that if you would be looking at the small size frame, it only has ONE bottle cage mount due to the extremely compact geometry.

Other than that I would get it over the Cayo. I have owned both and the PX is substantially lighter (about 7.5kg vs 8.5kg on the stock bike.)

setanta159

Boardman Team Carbon 2010 @ €1249 if there are still any available:
Frame Material: Carbon Fibre
Gears: 20
Gender: Mens
Frame Size (cm): 51 - 54
Approximate Weight (KG): 7.98
Chainset: SRAM S350 compact
Exact Frame Size: 53cm
Forks: Ultralight carbon fibre monocoque
Frame Colour: Black
Frame-: Ultralight carbon fibre monocoque
Front Brake: R580
Front Mech: SRAM Rival
Gear Shifters: SRAM Rival 10 speed
Handle Bars: Ritchey Comp OS 31.8mm
Headset: FSA Orbit integrated cartridge bearing
Hubs: Sealed bearings
Number of Gears: 20
Pedals: NA
Quick Release Wheels: Yes
Rear Brake: R580
Rear Mech: SRAM Rival
Rims: Ritchey Pro 20H front, 24H rear
Saddle: Cboardman, Cro-Mo rails
Seatpost: Ritchey Comp 31.6mm
Stem: Ritchey Comp OS 31.8mm
Tyre size: 23c
Tyres: Continental Ultra Sport Wheel size: 700c

Nearly forgot the ladies bike comes in white, looks absolutely stunning

vertigo1976

+1 for the Planet X at that price. IMO, Sram rival is a much nicer groupset than 105. And you can buy the PX from a bricks and mortar shop in Ireland which takes out sizing guesswork etc.

Lemag

work wrote: »

The planet X has SRAM which I know nothing about. Why do you suggest the Planet X above the others (it has SRAM rival whis i think is their equivalent to 105 shimano). Does the canyon come pre set up when delivered?
Hope you do not mind all the questions
Thanks, Work

Rival is third tier SRAM so there'd be some sort of logic to comparing it to 105(3rd tier Shimano excluding Di2), I guess. However, there seems to be a general consensous that it is better than 105 and it is lighter than both 105 and Ultegra which isn't insignificant when climbing hills. The shifting mechanism with SRAM is a lot different to Shimano and Compagnolo so try it out before you buy to see if you like it. Are any of your triathlons likely to have hilly cycling routes? There are other components (mainly wheels) that will effect the weight of your bike, btw.

The Planet X has a very good reputation. There is someone based in Athlone who sells them which, as vertigo1976 said, would eliminate that guess work re sizing if you were to try it out first.The wheels which come with the Planet X don't seem to get very good reviews. I would look around for a pair of Mavic Aksium wheels for ~€150 and keep the Mach 1 Omega wheels as back-up.

The Cayo is nice for the price but, having experienced it a little from my friends bike, the impression that I was left with was that it is probably about as much of an entry level carbon frame as you can get. Very good for the money though.

The Canyon would come mostly assembled. They had an instructional video on their site regarding this but I couldn't find it just now (they may have taken it down). You could download a pdf from here. Not that much bike mechanics know-how is required for the job. The Mavic Aksium wheels which come with the Roadlite are good.

The cube - good reviews but otherwise I don't really know much about them.

EDIT - Rather than buying the Planet X and a pair of Aksium wheels as I'd suggested, you could just swap out the Mach 1 Omega wheels for Planet X Model B for an extra £30 when ordering from the site or over the phone..

Lemag

Also, white, although pretty, is a pain in the ass to keep clean.

work

Thanks guys for all the information so far. I spoke to the guys in Athlone selling Planet X and will go down during the week.
The obvious main selling point is their being available if there are any problems and keeping the sale in Ireland.

Lemag yes we will be doing loots of hills so you are right in saving weight. Thanks also on the wheels advive

work

Thanks again folks. She got the planet X bike with the Model B wheels. Really happy. She is short but they fitter her up and all seems good.
kEEP Truckin

Dubba

The Planet X Model B's are a great wheel-set in my experience, very light for the price and only needed a minor trueing (spelling?) after a good year of cycling.

My Mavic Aksium on the other hand are heavy basterds and the rear developed a big buckle, which while fixable I'd done a lot less miles on them, so there not bullet proof.

Plastik

Good to hear, I'm calling out to Athlone myself next weekend.

I'm also considering the Felt Z6 for in and around the same price, but the PX is currently leading the way with its weight and arguably better groupset. How did the PX frame look in red, it's hard to tell from the website? The white frame looks nice, but everyone and their dog has a white frame these days so I'll likely consider the red or naked carbon frames first.

Did you save much/any money by visiting the PX shop in Athlone as opposed to buying from the website?

vertigo1976

I bought my SL Pro from the lads in Athlone and it worked out the same price as it would have online. (Make sure you add shipping price to online price). They didn't seem to have much appetite for haggling despite my best efforts! Although they did a few extras at a deal (carbon bottle cages, shoe covers, pedals etc)
The big advantage for me was getting sized on the right frame (was borderline M/L). I was able to try out both sizes on a turbo trainer to make sure.
The lads also set me up on the bike and swapped out stem, saddle and seatpost to my preferences.
Personally, I was happier see the kit in the flesh before fronting up the loot!

Neverlandland

I went to order one last week, but was told that they didnt have any pro SLs in stock, and that it would take up to 3 weeks for them to get them. Not ideal

Dubba

vertigo1976, what size did you go for?

I was in a similar situation - between sizes and I went for the Medium, thought it was way too small at first but replaced the stem for a longer one and am happy with it now.

vertigo1976

@dubba: went for the large in the end. I could have gotten away with the medium but it felt just a little too short for me, even with a 130mm stem.
I'm 6' with 32" inseam.

I'm happy with the choice of large and glad to have been able to try both and not end up with the wrong one!

Dubba

Nice one! I'd have probably gone for the large too if I'd the option to try one out in a shop - live and learn :pac:

work

Plastik wrote: »

Good to hear, I'm calling out to Athlone myself next weekend.

I'm also considering the Felt Z6 for in and around the same price, but the PX is currently leading the way with its weight and arguably better groupset. How did the PX frame look in red, it's hard to tell from the website? The white frame looks nice, but everyone and their dog has a white frame these days so I'll likely consider the red or naked carbon frames first.

Did you save much/any money by visiting the PX shop in Athlone as opposed to buying from the website?

As mentioned already the cost isthe same as online but you get a custom fit and shop back up. That is amazing asat online cost. They affer a free service with each bike bought.
Colour: I do not like white...too dirty and make me think of white socks. Did not notice any red frames. The "black" carbon is pretty nice, though biased as that is what we got.